Playing for the first time in the arena where he blossomed into a six-time All-Star over the past seven years, Johnson and the Nets were given a rude welcome by the Hawks, who ran them out of Philips Arena from the start and handed the Nets a 109-95 loss that snapped their seven-game winning streak to open the new year.

“My main goal was to come in here and get a win,” said Johnson, who finished with 15 points on 4-for-15 shooting in 41 minutes. “It [hurts], because it seemed like from the start we just weren’t really into it tonight.”